Survey Says: Companies Need Education on the Value of Social Media and Big Data Analytics

Report by Mzinga, Teradata Aster and the Center for Complexity in Business at the University of Maryland provides insight on social software and big data analytics

Teradata (NYSE: TDC), the analytic data solutions company, and Mzinga® (http://www.mzinga.com), a pioneer in social intelligence solutions, services, and analytics for business, today announced the results of a recent industry survey exploring the use of social technologies and big data analytics in business.

Conducted in conjunction with Teradata Aster and the Center for Complexity in Business (CCB) at the University of Maryland, the survey’s primary goal was to create an industry benchmarking report providing professionals with insight into the adoption, use and current state of social business software and big data analytics in businesses."The survey results indicate that a wide variety of industries are interested in analytics and the power that analytics can provide them in making business decisions," said William Rand, assistant professor and director, Center for Complexity in Business. "However, there seems to be a lack of knowledge of how to best implement analytics, and a lack of consistent support for analytics across different platforms. This indicates a strong market need for education and consistent implementation of world-class analytic systems."Eighty percent of survey respondents reported using social technologies in one or more areas of business, including marketing, employee collaboration, customer service and support and sales. Other survey findings include:

While the majority of businesses currently utilize social technologies, opportunities exist to attain maximum impact and greater ROI by developing customer and marketing strategies to target trust and influence in their business

While business are attaining some value through social technologies, 49 percent state that they are not using social technologies to their full potential, while only 12 percent of respondents acknowledge that social technologies have helped in their day-to-day roles and responsibilities

The top use cases for social technologies that will impact areas of trust and influence include customer experience, service or support; marketing or brand experience; employee collaboration and knowledge sharing; and sales

As greater emphasis is placed on the impact of social technologies, professionals are struggling to understand analytics and how to measure ROI and value in their business

75 percent of respondents do not measure ROI for their social business programs, while the majority of use occurs on a case-by-case basis

Of those who do not measure ROI, 31 percent don’t know if their vendor provides analytics, 14 percent have a vendor who does not provide analytics, and 44 percent do not work with a vendor for analytics at all

Some respondents also are unaware of what information analytics can provide, whereas others state a desire for more thorough, advanced training on their analytics’ capabilities

Many participants claimed to be influential in their company’s adoption of social technologies but were unaware of how their use could be successfully measured, or stated that analytics were too difficult

As organizations seek to gain business intelligence through data analytics, market opportunity exists to provide greater accuracy, insight and performance from social technologies

Big data technologies are still ahead of the market: 42 percent of respondents are unfamiliar with big data technologies

Respondents realize the importance of analyzing and gleaning insights from social interactions happening in real time, but are unable to indicate a time frame in which they will implement a solution to do so

The top metrics respondents want in a big data solution include customer feedback and preferences; user, behavioral and content trend analysis; and ROI

"The Center for Complexity in Business at the University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business is focused on applying top-level computational methods to today's modern business problems, and so working with Mzinga and Teradata Aster on this project was a natural fit for the Center. Teradata Aster is a discovery platform that allows organizations to execute analytics on large datasets, while Mzinga is a leader in the area of social business software. The thought leadership represented in this report is really the product of a set of truly innovative partners," added Rand.The survey was conducted online in the spring of 2012 and drew more than 500 participants from a wide variety of professional disciplines and industries, including media, financial services, consulting, marketing, human resources, engineering, and others.The industry survey report exploring the use of social technologies and big data analytics in business can be downloaded at: http://www2.mzinga.com/survey2012 The three organizations will hold a joint webcast to provide additional information and discussion of the survey results on August 9, 2012. To register, please visit: http://www.asterdata.com/wc-social-analytics/

Mzinga

Mzinga is a pioneering provider of social intelligence solutions, services, and analytics that improve business performance. Through a combination of enterprise-class technology, strategy and online moderation services, Mzinga social solutions enable businesses to increase revenue and lower costs by improving brand visibility, workplace satisfaction, and customer loyalty. Headquartered in Burlington, Massachusetts, Mzinga supports more than 15,000 communities and 2.5 billion monthly page requests from 40 million unique visitors in 160 countries worldwide. To learn more about Mzinga, visit www.mzinga.com.

the Center for Complexity in Business

Robert H. Smith's Center for Complexity in Business (CCB) is the world's first (and only) research center specializing in the application of complex systems methods to business problems. Complex Systems is the study of large groups of entities operating in dynamic environments. The Center for Complexity in Business uses techniques from this field to study, among other things, how the adoption of new innovations spreads through networks, and how organizational performance depends on relationships that individuals in the organization maintain. Visit rhsmith.umd.edu/ccb/ for details.

About Teradata

Teradata empowers companies to achieve high-impact business outcomes. Our focus on business solutions for analytics, coupled with our industry leading technology and architecture expertise, can unleash the potential of great companies. Visit teradata.com.

Teradata and the Teradata logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Teradata Corporation and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and worldwide.